Arsenal €29m bid for star turned down, says Seville

Arsenal will have to break the bank to sign Spanish wing wizard Jose Antonio Reyes after his agent claimed Seville had turned down a £21m (€29m) bid.

Reyes, 20, has attracted considerable interest from Europe’s top clubs following a number of sparkling performances at club level, with agent Jesus Rodriguez also claiming Inter Milan have offered £29.5m (€42m).

Rodriguez said: “Arsenal made an offer for him of £10.5m (€15m) which would increase to £21m (€29m) depending on appearances, but that was turned down.

“More than 20 teams in Europe have been following him and coming to games.

“I think that the president was happy to sell him before but now he is waiting to see what happens, there are a lot of teams interested in him and the president is not in any hurry.

“The president has also told me that Inter Milan have made an offer of €42m which he has also turned down.”

Rodriguez also hinted Arsenal would not be able to afford the eventual price tag that Seville president Jose Maria del Nido planned to slap on the player.

But he believes that the Gunners are looking to dip into the Spanish market again after their successful capture of former Barcelona youngster Cesc Fabregas, who is currently on the fringes of the first team at Highbury.

Rodriguez continued: “Seville are expecting to sell Reyes and believe that he will leave but they will wait because in the next two years he will become an even bigger player.

“Arsenal have been the only team to make a bid from England but I think the only team in England that can afford him is Chelsea and possibly Manchester United.

“Inter Milan, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Monaco have all spoken to the club as well as Arsenal.

“I think Arsenal want to exploit the Spanish market as Cesc was a good buy for them and so they are continuing to look at the players available.”

Reyes is under contract in Andalucia until 2010 but seems certain to move to one of Europe’s giants well before then.